Her pleasant voice caught the attention of the nearby mercenaries once more.
A blond young man was the quickest to respond, approaching her.
“A lunchbox? Are you talking about food to take on monster hunts?”
Sylvia nodded enthusiastically at the approaching blond man. Though unaccustomed to speaking informally from the start, she was aware that the mercenary groups in this place were unlike those in other stories she had seen. Mercenaries were as popular and potentially lucrative as knights.
As the novel depicted, with the Black Dragon submerged in sleep, the number of monsters would increase and become more powerful. If the monsters outside the city weren’t periodically reduced, even within the city walls would not be safe. That’s why the Corpora Empire treated mercenaries very well and paid high prices for certain monster parts.
However, the number of government officials was fixed, and slow bureaucratic processes had led to the emergence of middleman agencies. These agencies introduced new swordsmen or magicians to mercenary groups and handled the sale of monster parts to the government on their behalf, taking a fee for their services.
So, even if a young, inexperienced worker spoke informally to her, Sylvia couldn’t object. She simply smiled and stuck on her business smile.
“Yes, have you packed your provisions well?”
The blond-haired man, unfamiliar with the concept of a lunchbox, burst into laughter at her question.
“Taking a lunch box when it’s not even a picnic? That’s amusing.”
Most mercenary groups usually only carried hard bread and water, relying on hunting other creatures for meat. Beyond the monsters, the wilderness outside the city was filled with dangerous animals like wild boars, wolves, lions, and even giant two-headed ostriches – all potential sources of food.
But the idea of a cute woman asking about lunch boxes brought an involuntary smile to the mercenaries’ faces. And when she called out to the ‘handsome mercenary’, naturally, they thought she was referring to them.
Just then, a pink-haired young man approached.
“What’s this about a handsome mercenary? I thought you were calling me, but was I mistaken?”
Sylvia responded with a playful smile to the young man who winked cheekily.
“The world is vast, and there are many handsome mercenaries. Of course, including charming magicians like yourself.”
The pink-haired man, revealing his magic ring, responded with a magician’s greeting.
“You’re a magician? That’s an unusual hair color. Why are you selling stuff? Oh, you’re not a combat magician?”
“Yes, that’s right. But, dear magician, would you like to try this?”
Sylvia handed him a piece of caramel bread popcorn she’d taken from her backpack. Eryngium, still perched on her head and crunching away, swiftly snatched another piece.
[Delicious!]
Pretending to pat the fairy’s head, Sylvia gently stroked Eryngium’s hair. The pink-haired man, intrigued by the unfamiliar snack, was soon joined by the blond-haired man.
“What’s this?”
Sylvia quickly handed another piece of caramel bread popcorn to the blond-haired man.
“Try it too, handsome swordsman.”
The two men skeptically eyed the unfamiliar treat but were enticed by its sweet aroma and popped it into their mouths. The caramel clung stickily due to its generous coating but gave way to the crispy texture of the bread crust.
The bittersweet taste of the caramel captivated them, their eyes widening as if they’d seen the sun. Reading their expressions, Sylvia asked slyly, her confidence evident in her tone.
“Is it delicious?”
Dean, the blonde-haired knight, vigorously nodded his head like a storm in response to her question and exclaimed in admiration.
“It’s incredibly delicious! I’ve never eaten anything like this before! What is this?”
Bishop, the pink-haired magician, echoed his words as if in complete agreement.
“I’m also trying this for the first time. What exactly is this made of?”
Hearing the two men’s excited voices, people around them, curious, began to gather stealthily. Sylvia, after a quick glance around, smiled and took out a lunchbox containing egg sandwiches and avocado mayonnaise rice balls.
“Try this too.”
Dean and Bishop, seeing the food for the first time, quickly picked up a rice ball and a sandwich, respectively.
Their expressions, as they chewed, spread into surprise. Then, they each took a bite of the other food, making the same expression.
Without speaking and just eating, Sylvia, not the other mercenary, began to ask questions.
“Why are you eating without saying anything? How does it taste? Huh?”
“What is that?”
Murmuring, people had crowded around Sylvia. Pleased that things were going as she planned, Sylvia took out barley tea from her backpack. She filled wooden cups full of icy barley tea and handed them to Dean and Bishop.
The two, who just happened to have dry throats, drank it refreshingly.
“Mmm.”
The nutty aroma of barley went into their throats and noses. Dean, looking at the barley tea with amazement, said,
“I’ll take five of each of these, and these.” He pointed to the rice ball lunchbox, sandwiches, bread popcorn, and barley tea.
“How much are they?”
Bishop quickly followed up with a question. Sylvia smiled and replied,
“Well, the rice ball lunchbox is 10 Kors, the sandwich is also 10 Kors, the caramel bread popcorn is 5 Kors, and the cool barley tea is 5 Kors too.”
The unique and delicious lunchbox was very affordable. Bishop quickly placed an order too.
“Please give me ten of each. I’d like to let my mercenary group try them as well.”
“Okay, just a moment.”
Sylvia quickly took out lunchboxes from her backpack. She also provided barley tea in wooden cups with lids that she had prepared earlier.
As she handed over the items and received payment, people spoke up.
“Miss, let me try some of that too.”
“I want to taste that small thing…”
While putting the money in her pocket, Sylvia quickly responded.
“Here you go, please taste first and then place your order separately.”
Handing over the lunchbox container, Sylvia busily took out more food. She then added to Dean and Bishop.
“If you clean the lunchbox container and return it to me next time, I’ll give you some fruit as a service.”
Surprised by this novel system, Bishop and Dean’s eyes widened.
“You’ll give fruit?”
Dean’s voice was filled with astonishment, to which Sylvia warmly replied.
“I originally sold fruit. Please come back next time and continue to use my lunchboxes! Safe travels!”
Before departing, Sylvia greeted and explained to others, offering tastes. Dean and Bishop found themselves pushed out of the crowd by the gathering people.
“Miss, I want twenty of each!”
“I’ll take ten!”
Amidst the excited flurry of orders, Sylvia responded with a bright smile.
“Okay, just wait a moment! Ah, here’s your change!”
The lunchboxes sold out quickly. Sylvia returned home swiftly with a beaming smile, feeling very proud of the unexpectedly positive response.
“I should have started selling lunchboxes earlier.”
[The food Sylvia makes is always delicious!]
Upon hearing her words, the fairy hopped up and down on her head and replied. Smiling triumphantly, Sylvia thought to herself. Although she did sell fruits and made some money, she was harboring a grand dream.
“Erin, you know, if I hadn’t become a tattooist, my dream was to be a chef. Being able to eat delicious food all your life is a very happy thing.”
[A chef? Like a royal kitchen chef?]
“Right, a chef. I’ve been a tattooist in my previous life, so in this life, I want to be a chef!”
It seemed like there was no need for a tattooist here, and it didn’t matter if she was the only one with tattoos on her body. Cooking with magic was very enjoyable and had the advantage of easily making a variety of dishes.
To open her own store in the future, she needed to start spreading the word now. And she planned to earnestly pray and help so that the protagonist would not turn evil.
“I should make more tomorrow.”
Upon returning home, Sylvia spent the day engrossed in serious food preparation. Erin, with her tiny wings, flitted around, helping her.
★★21. Nutritious Lunch Box★★
From early morning, Sylvia was busy preparing lunchboxes. It had been 2 weeks since she started selling them, and they were selling very smoothly.
In fact, it was more than smooth; it was a huge success. When Sylvia appeared near the city gate, people who had eaten her lunchboxes before recognized her and approached first. They would start by returning the lunchboxes they had bought the previous day, cleaned for her.
Then they would buy lunchboxes again, and Sylvia generously topped them off with fruits as a service. This led to very positive word-of-mouth, and people started wanting to place orders in advance.
However, Sylvia did not accept pre-orders, fearing she wouldn’t be able to handle them.
Today’s lunchbox menu included beef sirloin steak with carrot purée and roasted vegetables, baked butter potatoes, and a salad with an orange dressing and rice.
She took out a large pan from a Hinoki wood storage box, so large that she had to stretch her arms to hold it. She floated it in the air with wind magic and started evenly heating it with fire magic.
She liberally poured freshly squeezed olive oil and neatly placed the large, square cuts of sirloin, previously seasoned with salt and pepper, onto the pan.
Sizzle, sizzle.
She added bits of butter here and there and kept adding the meat. She filled the pan with beef and added rosemary to the oil to eliminate any gamey smell.
She flipped the meat in the order she had placed it. After flipping the last piece, she created a lid for the pan with wind magic and sealed it tightly.
After extinguishing the fire, she took the freshly washed potatoes and made cross incisions with wind magic, stuffing them full of butter.
Her kitchen had completely transformed from the first time she had seen it. The space where she moved was empty except for a long table and shelves.
She placed the pan filled with meat on the long table using wind magic. It needed to rest slowly.
She floated the butter-filled potatoes in the air, enveloped them with wind, and then surrounded the wind with fire. She sprinkled water intermittently to cook the potatoes evenly, as if they were in an oven.
Water appeared in the air, swirling around with the fire. She put the pre-washed bright red carrots into the steaming water to boil.
The carrots in the water, illuminated by the light entering through the small window of the kitchen, looked appetizing.
After boiling the carrots, she put them in a pot with just butter, then mixed them using a whirlwind magic like a blender, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Sylvia took out another pan, sprinkled it with olive oil, and began roasting cherry tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, and shiitake mushrooms. The rice that had been cooked earlier was cooled with wind magic and shaped into triangles.
In the square lunchboxes, she placed the rice and then the baked butter potatoes. She first spread the carrot purée, then neatly placed the rested steak, cut into bite-sized pieces. The roasted vegetables and mushrooms were arranged tidily, and she seasoned them with salt and pepper.
She prepared the oran
Her pleasant voice caught the attention of the nearby mercenaries once more.
A blond young man was the quickest to respond, approaching her.
“A lunchbox? Are you talking about food to take on monster hunts?”
Sylvia nodded enthusiastically at the approaching blond man. Though unaccustomed to speaking informally from the start, she was aware that the mercenary groups in this place were unlike those in other stories she had seen. Mercenaries were as popular and potentially lucrative as knights.
As the novel depicted, with the Black Dragon submerged in sleep, the number of monsters would increase and become more powerful. If the monsters outside the city weren’t periodically reduced, even within the city walls would not be safe. That’s why the Corpora Empire treated mercenaries very well and paid high prices for certain monster parts.
However, the number of government officials was fixed, and slow bureaucratic processes had led to the emergence of middleman agencies. These agencies introduced new swordsmen or magicians to mercenary groups and handled the sale of monster parts to the government on their behalf, taking a fee for their services.
So, even if a young, inexperienced worker spoke informally to her, Sylvia couldn’t object. She simply smiled and stuck on her business smile.
“Yes, have you packed your provisions well?”
The blond-haired man, unfamiliar with the concept of a lunchbox, burst into laughter at her question.
“Taking a lunch box when it’s not even a picnic? That’s amusing.”
Most mercenary groups usually only carried hard bread and water, relying on hunting other creatures for meat. Beyond the monsters, the wilderness outside the city was filled with dangerous animals like wild boars, wolves, lions, and even giant two-headed ostriches – all potential sources of food.
But the idea of a cute woman asking about lunch boxes brought an involuntary smile to the mercenaries’ faces. And when she called out to the ‘handsome mercenary’, naturally, they thought she was referring to them.
Just then, a pink-haired young man approached.
“What’s this about a handsome mercenary? I thought you were calling me, but was I mistaken?”
Sylvia responded with a playful smile to the young man who winked cheekily.
“The world is vast, and there are many handsome mercenaries. Of course, including charming magicians like yourself.”
The pink-haired man, revealing his magic ring, responded with a magician’s greeting.
“You’re a magician? That’s an unusual hair color. Why are you selling stuff? Oh, you’re not a combat magician?”
“Yes, that’s right. But, dear magician, would you like to try this?”
Sylvia handed him a piece of caramel bread popcorn she’d taken from her backpack. Eryngium, still perched on her head and crunching away, swiftly snatched another piece.
[Delicious!]
Pretending to pat the fairy’s head, Sylvia gently stroked Eryngium’s hair. The pink-haired man, intrigued by the unfamiliar snack, was soon joined by the blond-haired man.
“What’s this?”
Sylvia quickly handed another piece of caramel bread popcorn to the blond-haired man.
“Try it too, handsome swordsman.”
The two men skeptically eyed the unfamiliar treat but were enticed by its sweet aroma and popped it into their mouths. The caramel clung stickily due to its generous coating but gave way to the crispy texture of the bread crust.
The bittersweet taste of the caramel captivated them, their eyes widening as if they’d seen the sun. Reading their expressions, Sylvia asked slyly, her confidence evident in her tone.
“Is it delicious?”
Dean, the blonde-haired knight, vigorously nodded his head like a storm in response to her question and exclaimed in admiration.
“It’s incredibly delicious! I’ve never eaten anything like this before! What is this?”
Bishop, the pink-haired magician, echoed his words as if in complete agreement.
“I’m also trying this for the first time. What exactly is this made of?”
Hearing the two men’s excited voices, people around them, curious, began to gather stealthily. Sylvia, after a quick glance around, smiled and took out a lunchbox containing egg sandwiches and avocado mayonnaise rice balls.
“Try this too.”
Dean and Bishop, seeing the food for the first time, quickly picked up a rice ball and a sandwich, respectively.
Their expressions, as they chewed, spread into surprise. Then, they each took a bite of the other food, making the same expression.
Without speaking and just eating, Sylvia, not the other mercenary, began to ask questions.
“Why are you eating without saying anything? How does it taste? Huh?”
“What is that?”
Murmuring, people had crowded around Sylvia. Pleased that things were going as she planned, Sylvia took out barley tea from her backpack. She filled wooden cups full of icy barley tea and handed them to Dean and Bishop.
The two, who just happened to have dry throats, drank it refreshingly.
“Mmm.”
The nutty aroma of barley went into their throats and noses. Dean, looking at the barley tea with amazement, said,
“I’ll take five of each of these, and these.” He pointed to the rice ball lunchbox, sandwiches, bread popcorn, and barley tea.
“How much are they?”
Bishop quickly followed up with a question. Sylvia smiled and replied,
“Well, the rice ball lunchbox is 10 Kors, the sandwich is also 10 Kors, the caramel bread popcorn is 5 Kors, and the cool barley tea is 5 Kors too.”
The unique and delicious lunchbox was very affordable. Bishop quickly placed an order too.
“Please give me ten of each. I’d like to let my mercenary group try them as well.”
“Okay, just a moment.”
Sylvia quickly took out lunchboxes from her backpack. She also provided barley tea in wooden cups with lids that she had prepared earlier.
As she handed over the items and received payment, people spoke up.
“Miss, let me try some of that too.”
“I want to taste that small thing…”
While putting the money in her pocket, Sylvia quickly responded.
“Here you go, please taste first and then place your order separately.”
Handing over the lunchbox container, Sylvia busily took out more food. She then added to Dean and Bishop.
“If you clean the lunchbox container and return it to me next time, I’ll give you some fruit as a service.”
Surprised by this novel system, Bishop and Dean’s eyes widened.
“You’ll give fruit?”
Dean’s voice was filled with astonishment, to which Sylvia warmly replied.
“I originally sold fruit. Please come back next time and continue to use my lunchboxes! Safe travels!”
Before departing, Sylvia greeted and explained to others, offering tastes. Dean and Bishop found themselves pushed out of the crowd by the gathering people.
“Miss, I want twenty of each!”
“I’ll take ten!”
Amidst the excited flurry of orders, Sylvia responded with a bright smile.
“Okay, just wait a moment! Ah, here’s your change!”
The lunchboxes sold out quickly. Sylvia returned home swiftly with a beaming smile, feeling very proud of the unexpectedly positive response.
“I should have started selling lunchboxes earlier.”
[The food Sylvia makes is always delicious!]
Upon hearing her words, the fairy hopped up and down on her head and replied. Smiling triumphantly, Sylvia thought to herself. Although she did sell fruits and made some money, she was harboring a grand dream.
“Erin, you know, if I hadn’t become a tattooist, my dream was to be a chef. Being able to eat delicious food all your life is a very happy thing.”
[A chef? Like a royal kitchen chef?]
“Right, a chef. I’ve been a tattooist in my previous life, so in this life, I want to be a chef!”
It seemed like there was no need for a tattooist here, and it didn’t matter if she was the only one with tattoos on her body. Cooking with magic was very enjoyable and had the advantage of easily making a variety of dishes.
To open her own store in the future, she needed to start spreading the word now. And she planned to earnestly pray and help so that the protagonist would not turn evil.
“I should make more tomorrow.”
Upon returning home, Sylvia spent the day engrossed in serious food preparation. Erin, with her tiny wings, flitted around, helping her.
★★21. Nutritious Lunch Box★★
From early morning, Sylvia was busy preparing lunchboxes. It had been 2 weeks since she started selling them, and they were selling very smoothly.
In fact, it was more than smooth; it was a huge success. When Sylvia appeared near the city gate, people who had eaten her lunchboxes before recognized her and approached first. They would start by returning the lunchboxes they had bought the previous day, cleaned for her.
Then they would buy lunchboxes again, and Sylvia generously topped them off with fruits as a service. This led to very positive word-of-mouth, and people started wanting to place orders in advance.
However, Sylvia did not accept pre-orders, fearing she wouldn’t be able to handle them.
Today’s lunchbox menu included beef sirloin steak with carrot purée and roasted vegetables, baked butter potatoes, and a salad with an orange dressing and rice.
She took out a large pan from a Hinoki wood storage box, so large that she had to stretch her arms to hold it. She floated it in the air with wind magic and started evenly heating it with fire magic.
She liberally poured freshly squeezed olive oil and neatly placed the large, square cuts of sirloin, previously seasoned with salt and pepper, onto the pan.
Sizzle, sizzle.
She added bits of butter here and there and kept adding the meat. She filled the pan with beef and added rosemary to the oil to eliminate any gamey smell.
She flipped the meat in the order she had placed it. After flipping the last piece, she created a lid for the pan with wind magic and sealed it tightly.
After extinguishing the fire, she took the freshly washed potatoes and made cross incisions with wind magic, stuffing them full of butter.
Her kitchen had completely transformed from the first time she had seen it. The space where she moved was empty except for a long table and shelves.
She placed the pan filled with meat on the long table using wind magic. It needed to rest slowly.
She floated the butter-filled potatoes in the air, enveloped them with wind, and then surrounded the wind with fire. She sprinkled water intermittently to cook the potatoes evenly, as if they were in an oven.
Water appeared in the air, swirling around with the fire. She put the pre-washed bright red carrots into the steaming water to boil.
The carrots in the water, illuminated by the light entering through the small window of the kitchen, looked appetizing.
After boiling the carrots, she put them in a pot with just butter, then mixed them using a whirlwind magic like a blender, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Sylvia took out another pan, sprinkled it with olive oil, and began roasting cherry tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, and shiitake mushrooms. The rice that had been cooked earlier was cooled with wind magic and shaped into triangles.
In the square lunchboxes, she placed the rice and then the baked butter potatoes. She first spread the carrot purée, then neatly placed the rested steak, cut into bite-sized pieces. The roasted vegetables and mushrooms were arranged tidily, and she seasoned them with salt and pepper.
She prepared the oran
